PROCEEDINGS 

AND MEMORIAL OF A 

CONFERENCE 

O F 

ConfederaLte Rooster 
Commissioners 

ATLANTA, GEORGIA 

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ALABAMA PRiNTiNG CO. 
MONTGOMERY 



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PROCEEDINGS 

AND MEMORIAL OF A 

CONFERENCE 

OF 

ConfederoLte R.oster 
Commissioners 

AT 

ATLANTA, GEORGIA 

JULY aO-31, 1903 



ALABAMA PRINTINS CO. 

MONTGOMERY 

1903 






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INTR.ODUCTORY NOTE. 



This pamphlet has been compiled and issued by the 
Secretary in accordance with the wishes of the confer- 
ence. Pending its publication the chairman, Hon. 
Allen D. Candler, has been actively engaged in the per- 
formance of the duties assigned him. There can be no 
doubt that the conference has been productive of very 
valuable results in stimulating the public mind, and in 
calling attention to the importance of the compilation. 

In accordance with the provisions of the seventh 
paragraph of the proceedings of the second day (June 
21st), a copy of the memorial to the Secretary of War 
was sent by Gov. Candler to the Compiler of Confeder- 
ate Eecords, or in states in which no official has been 
designated, to the Governor of the state, suggesting that 
if the memorial and its object met with his approval 
he sign the copy sent him. In response to this sugges- 
tion the memorial was signed by Col. S. H. Nowlin, 
Compiler of Military Records for Arkansas, Hon, John 
A. Hulin, Adjutant -General of Texas, Hon. H. H. 
Hannah, Adjutant-General of Tennessee, Governor 
A. H. Montague of Virginia, and Governor A. 
M. Dockery of Missouri. In the last two states, 
no other officer having been named to co-operate with 
General Ainsworth in the work, the Governors patri- 
otically consented to assume the onerous duty, and 
Governor Montague has arranged to meet with the 
representatives of Georgia and North Carolina in "Wash- 
ington at an early date, for the purpose of presenting 
the memorial to the Secretary of War, and urging that 
the prayer ot the memorialists be granted. 

Governor Jennings of Florida replied that no one had 
been appointed in Florida, but that a little later action 
would be taken. 

Governor Beckham of Kentucky, designated Capt. 
Ed. Porter Thompson as Compiler of Confederate 
Eecords. Upon his death the Governor named Ed. 
Porter Thompson, Jr. No response has been received 
from him. 

Doubtless, however, the representatives of these 
states who have not been heard from will join in the 
memorial. 

It is incumbent on all patriotic citizens to render the 
commissioner for their respective states prompt and 
active assistance in this noble enterprise. 



COMMISSIONERS. 



Alabama. — Thomas M, Owen, Montgomery. 

Arkansas. — S. H. Nowlin, Little Eock. 

Florida. — 

Georgia. — Allen D. Candler, Atlanta. 

Indian Territory. — 

Kentucky. — Ed. Porter Thompson, Jr., Frankfort. 

Louisiana. — Gen. Leon Jastremski, Baton Eouge. 

Maryland. — 

Mississippi. — Dunbar Eowland, Jackson. 

Missouri. — Gov. A. M. Dockery, Jefferson City. 

North Carolina. — Dr. B. F. Dixon, Ealeigh. 

South Carolina. — M. P. Tribble, Columbia. 

Tennessee. — Harvey H. Hannah, Nashville. 

Texas. — John A. Hulin, Austin. 

Virginia. — Gov. A. H. Montague, Eichmond. 

West Virginia. — A. S. Hutson, Charleston. 



1. PR.OCEEDINGS. 



JUNE 20, 1903. 

At ten o'clock a. m., the following gentlemen repre- 
senting their respective States, viz : Gov. Allen D. 
Candler, Compiler of State Eecords, Atlanta, Ga., 
Hon. B. F. Dixon, State Auditor, Ealeigh, N". C, Hon. 
M. P. Tribble, Confederate Eoster Commissioner, Colum- 
bia, S. C, Gen. Leon Jastremski, Private Secretary to 
the Governor, Baton Eouge, La., and Thomas M. Owen, 
Director of the Department of Archives and History, 
Montgomery, Ala., met in the State Library, Atlanta, 
Ga., in obedience and response to the following call : 

To all Compilers of Confederate Rosters : 

The officers designated by the Governors of Southern 
States to co-operate with General Ainsworth, Chief of 
Eecord and Pension Office, in securing complete rosters 
of the officers and enlisted men of the Union and Con- 
federate armies, in the war between the States, are 
invited to meet in the State Library in the city of Atlanta, 
at ten o'clock, on Monday, the 20th of July, for the 
purpose of conferring and agreeing on some uniform 
plan of proceedure in the prosecution of their work. 
The most absolute accuracy possible in the compilation 
and publication of these rosters is desirable, to the end 
that no injustice be done any soldier of the South. The 
name, and a brief military history, of every officer and 
man who was in the Confederate army or navy should 
appear in these rosters to be published by the Secretary 
of "War at Washington, and the name of every impostor 
should be excluded. 

Owing to the loss or destruction of many of the origi- 
nal rosters, during the progress and since the close of 
the war, our task is difficult, and unless extraordinary 
effort is made to establish correct copies of lost rolls, 
and to perfect imperfect ones now in existence, the pub- 
lication to be made will possess but little value, and will 
do injustice to many gallant soldiers. Hence the under- 
signed, designated by the Governors of their respective 
States to co-operate with General Ainsworth in his im- 
portant work, realizing the importance of concert of 



6 

action, to the end that satisfactory results may be 
reached, earnestly invite their co-workers in the other 
Southern States to meet for conference and interchange 
of ideas, at the time and place named above. 

B. F. Dixon, 
State Auditor of North Carolina. 
Thomas M. Owen, 
Director Department Archives and History, Ala. 
Allen D. Candler, 
Compiler of State Records, Georgia. 

Gov. Candler briefly explained the proposed objects 
of the Conference, and suggested a postponement of 
formal organization until the next morning at 9 o'clock. 
He expressed the belief that other commissioners might 
arrive, and he read a telegram from Hon. Dunbar Row- 
land, of Mississippi, in which he stated that he would 
reach the city in time for the second day's session. The 
postponement was agreed to, after which there was a 
full and general discussion of the character of the work 
committed to the commissioners, its difficulties, possible 
remedies, etc., etc. 

Mr. Owen was asked to prepare a statement or me- 
morial, embodying in a formal way the views of the 
conference, to be submitted at the next session. 



JUNE 21, 1903. 

The second day's session of the Confederate Roster 
Commissioners convened at 9:30 o'clock a. m., in the 
Historical Room of the State Library. There were 
present : Messrs. Candler, Dixon, Tribble, Jastremski 
and Owen, and also Hon. Dunbar Rowland, the Director 
of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. 

Gov. Allen D. Candler and Thomas M. Owen were 
elected chairman and secretary respectively. 

Mr. Owen then read the memorial which he had pre- 
pared in accordance with previous request. After it 
was presented Mr. Rowland was called for and gave at 



length his views on the work imposed on the commis- 
sioners. An earnest and general discussion followed in 
which each commissioner took part. 

John W. Lindsey, State Pension Commissioner of 
Georgia, was then introduced and participated in the 
discussions. 

On motion of Gen. Jastremski the memorial as read 
was unanimously adopted. (Printed in full herein- 
after.) 

Mr. Eowland submitted certain resolutions, which 
were read by him, and on motion they were unani- 
mously adopted. (Printed in full hereinafter.) 

On motion, Gov. Candler, the chairman of the con- 
ference, was appointed a committee of one to secure the 
signatures of all Confederate commissioners to the me- 
morial, not only of those participating in the conference, 
but also those of States not represented. 

On motion a committee of three was appointed to 
consist of Gov. A. D. Candler, chairman, Dr. B. F. 
Dixon, and the commissioner from Virginia, to call on 
the Secretary of War and formally present the memo- 
rial of the conference. 

The members of the conference here entered upon a 
review and discussion of all points of interest involved 
in the work of the proposed compilation. 

Attention was directed to the fact that the State of 
Arkansas had not as yet appointed a commissioner, and 
on motion the chairman was directed to urge the Gov- 
ernor of Arkansas to appoint such a commissioner and 
to otherwise co-operate with the War Department in the 
premises. 

The secretary was requested to prepare the proceed- 
ings of the conference in pamphlet form for the use of 
the commissioners, to be accompanied by such pertinent 
documents as to him were important. 

A rising vote of thanks was then tendered Gov. 
Candler for his courtesy as chairman and as host, after 



8 

which the Conference adjourned sine die. Immediately 
after adjournment, the commissioners called in a body 
on Gov. J. M. Terrell, who expressed the keenest inter- 
est in the proceedings. The two houses of the Legisla- 
ture were then visited, and the commissioners had the 
opportunity of meeting several of the distinguished 
members of those bodies. 

Allen D. Candlee, 

Chairman. 
Thomas M. Owen, 

Secretary. 



II. MEMORIAL. 



To the Hon. Secretary of War Eliliu Boot: 

Sir — Your memorialists, duly and regularly appointed 
to act for their respective States in the compilation of 
the rosters of the Union and Confederate armies, au- 
thorized by Act of Congress, February 25, 1903, respect- 
fully represent that immediately following their ap- 
pointment they entered upon the duties required of 
them, and have diligently labored to render to the War 
Department all possible assistance. 

They had not proceeded far, however, in an effort to 
perform their part of the work before they realized, 
under the construction of the statute governing the 
compilation, as interpreted by Gen. F. C. Ainsworth, 
the officer of your Department having the work imme- 
diately in charge, that so far as the Confederate troops 
were concerned, anything like even an approximately 
complete or perfect roster could not be made. 

The history of Confederate records is doubtless 
familiar to you. Daring the progress of hostilities, and 
since the close of the war, the official records of the Con- 
federate States Government as well as the records of the 
several Southern States, were subjected to depredations, 
and in many cases destruction. Many of these records 
were captured during the war, and fortunately some of 
them so taken are preserved in your Department, but 
in other cases the most valuable records were burned. 
In other cases these records were concealed, and before 
being brought from their hiding places had suffered in 
many ways. The result is that no Southern State has 
a complete body of the records of its soldiers, and in no 
case are these records complete even where supplemented 
by the records on file in the War Department. Such 
being the condition of the Southern States with refer- 
ence to their records, it is absolutely impossible under 
the rules laid down by Gen. Ainsworth, above men- 
tioned, to compile the rosters of Confederate soldiers 
with accuracy and fulness. Inevitably, therefore, 



10 

grave injustice will be done the South, and the memory 
of many a gallant and meritorious soldier. 

It is conceded that the best records only should be 
used in the proposed compilation, but it is urged in this 
connection that the best should have reference to such 
as are obtainable. In the event that no roster is found 
to be in existence in any given case it is insisted that a 
substitute should be allowed . In permitting this course, 
under appropriate restrictions, no new principle would 
be invoked, only the well established and universal doc- 
trine that where a record or document has been lost it 
may be substituted in the proper way, or that the best 
obtainable evidence in a given case shall be admitted. 
Your memorialists are well aware that some abuses 
would occur, but it is believed that rules can be formu- 
lated whereby excellent and satisfactory results can be 
obtained. 

It is further submitted that the Confederate pension 
records of the several States should be used in the com- 
pilation. So far from being secondary in point of evi- 
dence, these records are in fact a part of the formal 
archives and records of each State, and, as such import 
verity; they are not, therefore, to be classed as ordinary 
compiled records. 

It is further found by your memoralists that their 
work progresses very slowly even when it is most per- 
sistently pushed, and notwithstanding they are using 
their utmost endeavor they are here unable to indicate 
how soon they can complete the work. 

Eealizing the very great importance of the work in 
hand, and to the end therefore, that a better, more per- 
fect and complete record may be compiled, and in order 
that full and ample justice be done the several States 
of the South and the Confederate soldiers, as well as the 
Union soldiers and the descendants of the men in both 
armies, and that no criticism may be hereafter urged 
against the War Department, or against any one con- 
nected with the work of the compilation, we most earn- 
estly and respectfully urge and pray: 



11 

(1) That there should be no undue haste in publish- 
ing the proposed compilation, but that all the time 
necessary be given the States to complete their rosters 
as far as possible before they are placed in permanent 
form. 

(2) That prior to final publication, the representa- 
tives of the several States be given an opportunity of 
examining the proof sheets of the compilation for the 
purpose of correcting errors in names, dates and facts 
therein, and that they be also allowed to suggest correc- 
tions or alterations, to be embodied, either as foot notes 
or in some other appropriate way, in the roster when 
published. 

(3) That each State may be permitted to submit to 
your department its Confederate pension records for use 
in the said compilation. 

(4) That your department as soon as practicable 
supply to the duly appointed commissioner from each 
State, who may apply therefor, and upon the payment 
of lawful fees for transcription, a check list of the 
rosters or rolls of the commands from said State, in order 
that the said commissioners may more intelligently 
direct their labors towards supplying deficiencies. This 
list need show nothing except a mere statement of the 
regiments, battalions, or other commands, with the rolls, 
and the date of each that may be on file. 

(5) That in the said compilation the detailed record 
of each soldier be given as far as possible. And, finally, 

(6) That in each and every case where no 
roster of a command is to be found, or where only an 
imperfect or incomplete roster is preserved, you will 
admit for the purpose of said compilation a compiled 
roster certified by the Governor of the State offering the 
same as carefully, accurately and correctly made up, 
and as being the only available record of said command 
discovered and known to him, after diligent search on 
the part of the commissioner or other representative of 
the State charged with making search for the same. 

Your memorialists, representing in an official way 
their several States, and after careful and mature delib- 
eration and consultation together respectfully prefer the 
above petition. Early attention is asked, and you are 
requested to reply to the several commissioners to their 
addresses as indicated below. And your memorialists 
will ever pray, etc. 



III. RESOLUTIONS. 



Whereas, At the second session of the fifty-seventh 
Congress a provision was inserted in H. E. 16021, an act 
making appropriation for the legislative, executive and 
judicial expenses of the government, making special 
provision for the compilation and publication, under the 
direction of the Secretary of War, of valuable historical 
data relative to both Union and Confederate soldiers, in 
the following words, to-wit: 

"Provided, That under the direction of the Secretary 
of War, the Chief of the Record and Pension Office shall 
compile from such official records as are in the posses- 
sion of the United States, and from such other authentic 
records as may be obtained by loan from the various 
States and other official sources, a complete roster of the 
officers and enlisted men of the Union and Confederate 
armies." 

Wiereas, In order that the proposed roster of the 
Confederate soldiers shall be historically true, the Gov- 
ernors of the various Southern States have appointed 
commissioners for the collection of official rosters and 
other material which may be of value for the use of the 
war department, be it 

Resolved, (1) That the commissioners of the Southern 
States, in conference at Atlanta, Ga., recognize in the 
publication oi a complete roster of officers and enlisted 
men, by the national government, of both Union and 
Confederate armies, a just and patriotic appreciation of 
the heroism of the American soldier. 

Resolved, (2) That we hereby indorse the wise and 
beautiful conception of preserving in the same record 
the evidence of the gallantry of those who wore the 
blue and of those who wore the gray as a common heri- 
tage of a great country. 

Resolved, (3) That we urge upon Confederate veter- 
ans everywhere the importance of making every effort 
to assist the commissioners of the Southern States in 
their praiseworthy work of collecting rosters, in order 
that a complete and accurate record may be compiled. 

Resolved, (4) That we extend to Secretary of War 
Elihu Eoot and to Gen. F. C. Ainsworth, chief of the 
record and pension division ol the War Department, 
sincere thanks for their efforts in bringing about the 
passage of the bill for the publication of the roster. 



IV. Comm\jnicak.tioi\s from the Watr De- 
partment in Reference to the Proposed 
Compilation of Roosters. 



Secretary Root to the Governors of the Several 

States. 

War Department, 
Washington, March 16, 1903. 

Sir: There is a very general desire on the part of 
the surviving participants of the great struggle in which 
the country was engaged from 1861 to 1865, and on the 
part of the descendants of those who have passed away, 
for a publication that shall be accessible to the general 
public and shall show the names of those who, either as 
officers or enlisted men, bore arms for the Union or for 
the Confederacy during the great war. In the opinion 
that this desire is one th}»t should be gratified, and that 
can be gratified, in great measure at least, by compiling 
and publishing, as a continuation of the publication 
known as the "Official Records of the Union and Con- 
federate Armies," a complete list or roster of the officers 
and men who served in those armies during the civil 
war, this Department recommended at the last session 
of Congress the enactment of a law authorizing the 
compilation and preparation of such a roster for publi- 
cation. That recommendation was followed by the 
enactment of a provision of law, which is embodied in 
the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Appropriation 
Act approved Febiuary 25, 1903, and which is as fol- 
lows: 

''That under the direction of the Secretary of War 
the Chief of the Record and Pension Office shall compile, 
from such official records as are in the possession of the 
United States and from such other authentic records as 
may be obtained by loan from the various States and 
other official sources, a complete roster of the officers and 
enlisted men of the Union and Confederate armies." 



14 

The Department is prepared to enter at once upon the 
work of making the compilation thus authorized, and to 
push it to completion as rapidly as possible. There will 
be little or no difficulty in making the Union part of the 
roster complete, but there will be great difficulty with 
regard to the Confederate partly because of the incom- 
pleteness of the collection of Confederate records in the 
possession of this Department. It is of the first import- 
ance, therefore, that no effort shall be spared to secure 
the temporary loan to the War Department, for the pur- 
pose of copying, of any and all authentic Confederate 
records that can be found anywhere. Many of these 
records are in the possession of the various States and it 
is hoped will be made readily accessible, but there are 
others that are widely scattered among historical and 
memorial associations and private citizens. The prob- 
lem of how to find and procure the loan of these scat- 
tered records is a difficult one, but is one that must be 
solved in order that the Confederate soldier shall receive 
the full credit that is due him in the roster that is to be 
compiled. 

I earnestly invite your co-operation with the Depart- 
ment in an effort to make this compilation as nearly 
complete as it is possible to make it, and I shall be 
glad to have the benefit of any suggestions that you can 
make as to the manner in which that end can be best 
attained. The work will be in the immediate charge of 
Brigadier- General F. C. Ainsworth, Chief of the Eecord 
and Pension Office of this Department, and I beg leave 
to suggest that, if the plan herein outlined meets your 
approval, you designate some official of your State to 
communicate with him relative to the details of the 
work and the steps to be taken in the furtherance of it. 
Very respectfully, 

(Signed) I^lihu Eoot, 

' Secretary of War. 



Gen. F. C. Ainsworth to the Commissioner for 
Alabama.* 



Eecoed and Pension Office, 
War Depatment, 
Washington City, March 30, 1903. 

Deak Sir: I am gratified to learn, through a letter 
from Governor Wm. D, Jelks to the Secretary of War, 
dated March 28, 1903, that you have been designated to 
co-operate with the Department in the effort to make 
the recently authorized roster of the officers and men of 
the Union and Confederate Armies as nearly complete 
as it is possible to make it, so far as Alabama troops are 
concerned. 

A considerable collection of the rolls of Alabama Con- 
federate organizations is now in the possession of this 
Department. While that collection does not by any 
means show all the names of the officers and men who 
were in the Confederate service from Alabama, and 
while it does not show the complete military histories 
of those whose names it does show, it is hoped that the 
list of names and the histories of individual officers and 
men can be made much more nearly complete by record 
evidence obtainable from other original rolls that may 
now be in the possession of the State of Alabama, or of 
historical societies, memorial associations and indi- 
viduals of Alabama and other States. 

The legislation authorizing the compilation of the 
roster is construed by the Department to restrict it, in 
making the compilation, to the use of original records 
made during the war period, and to preclude the use of 
printed or manuscript copies or compilations made sub- 
sequently. For this reason, and in order that there 
shall be no ground for doubt as to the accuracy of the 
proposed roster, the Department will be unable to use 
in the compilation any of the rosters that have hereto- 
fore been published, but must in all cases seek the 
original records upon which those rosters were based. 

*A similar note was addressed each of the Commissioners of 
the other States. 



16 

You will readily see that, in order that the compila- 
tion now in progress shall be as nearly complete as it is 
possible to make it, it is essential that the War Depart- 
ment shall obtain the temporary loan, for the purpose 
of copying, of any original official rolls, lists or other 
documents that show the names of Confederate officers 
and men and that are now in the custody of State offi- 
cials, historical or memorial associations, public or 
private libraries, or that are in the possession of private 
citizens. 

It is impracticable for the War Department to com- 
municate with the various holders of these scattered 
records, and consequently the Department must rely 
upon each State to collect, by loan or otherwise, such 
records of its own or other Confederate organizations as 
may be obtainable within the State, and to forward the 
collection when completed to this Department, by which 
the records will be copied and returned to the State 
with the least possible delay. Of course, the express 
charges incident to shipping records to and from the 
State will be defrayed by the Department. 

Permit me to suggest, if the plan herein outlined 
meets with your approval, that you take such steps, 
through the public press and otherwise, as you may 
deem to be advisable and proper to give the plan wide 
publicity, and to enable you to gather together all orig- 
inal Confederate records that can be collected in your 
State by loan or otherwise. 

If it occurs to you that a different plan from that 
indicated herein should be adopted, or if during the 
progress of the work you can make any suggestion tend- 
ing to facilitate or improve it, you will confer a favor 
upon the Department and myself by advising me freely 
and fully with regard to your views. 
Very respectfully, 

(Signed) F. C. Ainsworth, 

Brigadier-General, U. S. A., 
Chief Record and Pension Office. 



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